Wish I knew how he made this... (door panel speakers)

[Hazieview]

I think this is an awsome idea. It looks great and it doesn't appear that he cut his doors but how in the heck would you close your doors?

http://www.truckinweb.com/features/0.../photo_09.html

[D13]

Looks like the dash is cut back.

[454HO]

Who cares about the speakers... I want to know more about this engine.



That turbo setup looks awesome with the remote mounted carb...

[SBTork]

i agree, that engine bay looks insane

[slug]

yep, that is a wild azz turbo setup. i would like to see more of the truck.

take a look at the cowl area in the under hood shot. looks unfinished with that big gap there.

[Thumpin455]

Its a draw through turbo, like the Corvair and 80-81 Turbo Trans Am had. They can be a pain to start, but they still work. A blow through is more efficient, but this is relatively easy and cheap to set up.

As for the door panels, some guys been making custom parts like that with fiberglass resin and fleece. A wooden or foam buck or gives it the basic shape and the resin holds it in place while providing a smooth surface for paint. Saw an article about it in HotRod or Street Rodder a while back, or maybe it was a truck mag. Definitely cool with the graphics and design. If I come across it I will scan it and post the article. Been thinking about using that technique in some of my projects.

Trucks like that get you thinkin dont they?>\

[slash crashley]

my friend back home used to make pods for everything. spare tire trunk pods for twin 15"s tiny pods for tweeters by the side mirror controls, you name it.

it's alot of work but if you're patient they come out great.

here's a quick how-to from: carstereo.com

Step 1: Car Preparation

Protect upholstery, carpet and panels by lining up with plastic and masking tape. If any resin gets to a seat or carpet, there is no way to get it out. Take the extra time to make sure any potential spill won't cause damages to your car. Make sure you will not interfere with clutch, hood release or other mechanical parts.


Step 2: Making a Mold (Back Piece)

If you are mounting the pod to a flat surface, such as a door panel, then all you have to do is to make a template out of cardboard. Use the template to transfer the contour of the area to a piece of particleboard or MDF. This is the back of your pod.

If you are not lucky enough to have a flat surface to work with, you need to make a fiberglass back piece. For example, let's say you are building the pods to go in the corners of the floor, between the firewall and kick panels:

Line the area to be molded with aluminum foil. This way, the mat won't stick to your car or liner.
Cut a piece of fiberglass mat/cloth. It should be at least a couple inches bigger than the final pod size.
You can either apply the resin to the mat with a paint brush, or dip the mat in the resin.
Place the wet mat on the surface, let dry to hold shape.
If the mat won't stay, or sticks to your gloves, use a paint brush. Sometimes masking or duct tape will help keeping the mat in position for curing. Fine metal mesh or chicken wire could help hold the fiberglass in place for curing when building complicated shapes.
Let the piece cure. If once the piece has cured it is not hard enough, you might need to add one or two more layers of fiberglass. You can do this on a workbench. Remember, you are only trying to get the shape here, the back piece does not have to be rock-solid at this point.
You now have the back piece of your pod. Other options is to cover a factory panel with cloth, add resin to the cloth for hardening, and use the factory panel as part of your kick panel.


Step 3: Baffle (Front Piece) Fabrication

The best material to work with is MDF. If the enclosure is for low energy applications (such as mids and tweeters), a couple layers of 1/4" plywood would work.

With a jig saw, drill and router, you can build the baffle and mold it to accommodate your speakers. Carefully plan the layout, speaker mounting configuration and grilles.


Step 4: Speaker Positioning/Aiming

Once you have the baffle, connect wires to the speakers. Mount the speaker(s) on the baffle. Using metal braces, pieces of wood, etc, connect baffle and back part together to make a "skeleton". Metal braces are sometimes better because it is easier to re-aim. At this point, you don't care what it looks like. If you want, add some cloth to create some kind of a box effect. Don't worry about the back part of the speakers being semi-exposed.

Start by aiming each pod to the opposite side, at ear height. From this starting point, play around with different aiming angles for best results. If you are competing, make sure good results are achieved from both front seats. If you don't care about passenger's side much, optimize aiming at driver's side. This is the most important part of the whole process, and may take weeks of critical listening to get ideal angling. Keep in mind that at this stage you want to optimize staging and imaging, not sound quality. The speakers will sound a lot better once the pods are closed off.


Step 5: Joining the Baffle with the Mold

Once speakers are aimed for best sound, remove speakers from baffle. Trim bottom part to desired size. There are different techniques to shape and wrap baffle and mold. A lot of people wrap the front and back "skeleton" with fleece cloth. Resin is applied to the cloth and left to harden. This is good for concave pods, but for rounded pods you might need to try a different approach: Fill in areas with a material you can remove later such as paper towels or foil. Apply first layer of fiberglass. It doesn't have to be perfect, just cover the intended volume with no major protrusions. Let it harden.

Several layers will need to be added afterwards. How many depends on how hard you want the enclosure to be, and whether you are using fiberglass mat or cloth (cloth is thinner).


Step 6: Smoothing the Pods

Once you have a nice strong surface, add auto body filler (i.e. Bondo®) to round surface off. Let dry and sand. This process will have to be repeated at least twice, depending on finish desired and what you are using to cover up the pod. At the beginning, power tools can be used for sanding, but last steps might require hand sanding.


Step 7: Finishing

After you have a smooth finish, cover up the pod with vinyl, carpet, etc. Build grilles out out wood and metal mesh, run wires in and seal with silicone or Liquid Nails (glue), fill enclosure with polyfill if desired and mount speakers.

Make sure you safely secure the pods to your car. Best option here is to use hidden metal braces, or run screws from the inside of the pod to the car. Enjoy!